Purpose :
Thousands of West African Ebola virus disease (EVD) survivors are at-risk for sight-threatening uveitis, which has been associated with persistent Ebola virus (EBOV) in the aqueous humor of a U.S. survivor. The EVICT Study aims to determine the prevalence of EBOV persistence in ocular fluids and establish protocols for ocular fluid sampling of EVD survivors.

Conclusions :
EVD survivors presented with severe VA impairment or blindness largely due to cataracts associated with uveitis. No evidence of EBOV persistence in ocular fluid was identified at approximately 18-months. These findings are relevant to patients anticipating cataract surgery and have public health implications for eye care providers due to the potential risk of EBOV persistence in ocular fluid.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.